


Firebrand

by bacillicide



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mob, Bratva, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Bucky still has a metal arm, F/M, Hydra is a rival mafia, I'll try to keep it minimum though, Protective Bucky Barnes, Russian Mafia, Sorry?, bucky is in the russian mafia, i use natalia instead of natasha, not sorry, probably background romanogers, reader goes through a lot of shit though, reader is a badass, reader is a hacker, she's a bamf as usual, they're still terrible though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-10-17 13:16:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bacillicide/pseuds/bacillicide
Summary: It was the perfect plan. Skim information off Hydra's servers and funnel the information directly to James "Bucky" Barnes, leader of Hydra's biggest rival the Bratva and therefore indirectly taking down the organization that ruined your life. If you hadn't let your friends get involved it might have gone off without a hitch. But now Hydra knows who you are, what you've done and Barnes is the only person strong enough to keep you safe.





	1. Adrenaline

You knew something was wrong the moment you walked through the door and were met by silence. You couldn’t remember the last time there hadn’t been any noise at all in the apartment that you shared with your three best friends, the only family you had. The apartment was dark and murky, no tell-tale lights from computer screens or TVs, a nearly constant presence in your life. Your heart began to pound in your ears as you edged your way down the hallway towards the light switches. Your trembling fingers flicked the lights on and as your eyes adjusted to the blast of light you noticed the hallway table was tipped, it’s contents spread across the hallway floor. Your trembling increased as you pressed yourself against the wall. You struggled to hear a noise, any noise in the house before making your way to the living room.

At first other than a few items on the floor, everything looked normal. Until you passed the couch and your hand flew to your mouth to stop the bile that threatened. Blood. So much blood and tangled bodies. You closed your eyes as fast as you could unable to bring yourself even count them. Your breathing was loud, so loud in the silent house, gasping, tortured breaths. You tried to calm down, to breathe more slowly before you became hysterical but you couldn't reign yourself back in. You tried to move without opening your eyes and you slipped, catching yourself on the couch. Opening your eyes, you were able to see how the blood from the couch stained your hands, your clothes. You sobbed quietly, your hands smearing blood on your face.

You struggled to get back up, your muscles weak. _No, no, no_. You held back the screams that wanted to escape from your mouth, you didn’t know if you were clear. It wasn't safe here, you thought with desperation. Gasping, you pulled yourself from the couch and realized belatedly that glass covered the floor and was now embedded in your knees. You looked around for the source and realized that all the computers and TVs in the house had been brought into the living room and smashed to pieces.

 _Smart_.

Without the computers there was nothing for you here. You gripped your bag a little tighter, grounding yourself in the fact it was still there. You still had  _something_. You reached out, grabbing the couch and using it to navigate across the bodies. You didn't want to touch them but you couldn’t avoid the blood. It was literally everywhere as if the killers had done it on purpose. Maybe they had. You reached the window and slid it open, looking down at the fire escape. You couldn’t see anyone waiting to ambush you. You took a large breath, closing your eyes for a moment before opening them again.

You didn’t want to, but you knew you had to.

You turned around to take one last look at the apartment. You could see Jeremy now, his face turned at an unnatural angle. He was clearly dead, but it seemed as though he was staring at you nonetheless. Blame, so much blame. He wouldn’t have been able to hack into Hydra without the codes you had given to him and if you hadn’t he’d still be alive.

A noise from the far bedroom made your heart stop in your chest. You stopped all movement to listen and sure enough, there was shuffling as if someone was searching for something. Or someone.

Adrenaline kicked in and you were able to tear your gaze from the bodies of your friends to the darkness of the hallway. You couldn't make out anything substantial. You heard the door opening. _No_! Your mind screamed at you.

You swung down onto the fire escape, the metal ratting with your weight. No doubt they would have heard it, but you didn't pause to consider. You rushed down as fast as you could. You didn’t bother to look back either, so it was a surprise when shots rang out. You hit the ground unsteady on your feet, pushing your legs to move as fast as you could. You screamed as one tore into your shoulder. Fear took over and you didn’t stop.

-

 

You had managed to shake whoever had shot you by running through the alleys. Fortunately you seemed to know the area better than them. Your shoulder was killing you but adrenaline still hummed in your veins. Between that and the pain, you were shaking, unsteady. But at least you had a plan, though you had to admit it was a very stupid one.

Breaking into the estates of the one James “Bucky” Barnes, the Pakhan of Bratva operating in the city.

Stupid, _stupid_.

You had no reason to believe that he would help you even though you had the spent the last few weeks skimming information off the servers of Hydra and funneling it directly to Barnes. Anything and everything you could get your hands on while still covering your tracks. But he had no idea who you were and even if he did there was no telling what he would think. Especially since your offer was made while in desperate circumstances. He could even make a deal with Hydra and turn you over. 

The thought made your fists clench.

_You shouldn’t have touched the money, Jeremy._

You let out a sob as the gates of the estate came into view. You pushed down more sobs that threatened to come to the surface.  _Finish the job._ There were no people around, but you were willing to bet there were cameras hidden. Squatting to avoid putting pressure on your knees, you pulled out your tablet and phone, the only two pieces of electronics that you had on you, therefore had escaped the massacre in the apartment. You hacked into the security feeds without challenge, clicking your tongue at the poor security. You also got into the security system pin system, coding in your own pin to use to access the house—the apartment number where you live. Used to live. There was no point in sugarcoating anything anymore, you’d never be able to go back. They already knew that you were still alive.

Your best bet was to convince Barnes that you were worth protecting.

No big deal.

It was beginning to pour in earnest, much to your annoyance, so you hurriedly made your way to the house. Using the feeds on your tablet you managed to dodge all the cameras, though it took you through the mud and you had to bite back a bitter laugh. You felt like you had for sure lost your mind, gone into shock or _something_ because you couldn’t help but imagine what his expression would look like when you ruined his carpets. Truth be told, if you didn’t get some relief for your shoulder sooner rather than later, you probably really would ruin his carpets. Great way to convince someone to help you, you thought with biting sarcasm.

You punched your code in again at the side door, cautiously opening the door and slipping through it. You were on the cameras briefly, jumping out of sight as fast as possible. You waited to see if some lucky SOB had caught the movement but no alarm was raised. You made your way to one of the rooms that looked like a sitting room (who had sitting rooms these days, not to mention multiple sitting rooms?) and sat yourself facing the door, where you could be clearly seen from the entrance. No point in waiting around. You needed medical attention like yesterday.

Working quickly, you tripped an alarm, making it originate from the room you were in. You sat the tablet in your lap and put your hands up. The pain from holding your shoulder that way made your vision white out for a moment before you were grounded back in your body and you hissed through clenched teeth. 

Not a moment too soon guards burst through the door, their guns instantly pointed at you. You counted five. Tall and all muscle. Not for the first time you wondered what the fuck you were doing. You swallowed, hard. Your mouth was suddenly very dry and the words were hard to find. You wanted to curl up and cry, preferably in your own bed, but the job wasn’t done. Crying could come later, when you were safe. If you were safe ever again.

“I’m here to speak with Barnes. Tell him Firebrand has come to see him.”

 

-

 

Bucky came into the room, his gaze taking in the scene with a blank look on his face. The girl claiming to be Firebrand was sitting one of the plush couches in the blue sitting room. He took in her form, her back straight, hands in the air with guns pointed at her. Her face was completely drained of all color and he wondered if it was from fear or from pain. She seemed to be favoring her left shoulder but he couldn’t identify any wounds from where he was standing. Her expression was quite empty, unseeing and Bucky recognized that look, that long stare. It tugged a little at his heart, but only a little. If this really was Firebrand… a mere slip of a girl, covered in blood… he could imagine what could have happened to cause that stare.

He made his way across the room, stopping in front of her and crossing his arms. This seemed to snap her out of her daze and she looked up at him. “You can put your hands down. Everyone out except for Steve.” Her hands fell more than moved and he saw his theory about her shoulder was confirmed as she flinched and gently cradled the arm to her stomach. He frowned at that, his eyes taking in her disheveled appearance. It was hard to see what was wrong with her shoulder under the blood, dirt and clothing. He realized it bothered him, the thought of this girl being in pain. But he couldn't do anything, not until his questions were answered.

Slowly the guards began putting their weapons away and shuffling out, as if they couldn't quite believe their ears. Steve was staring at him but he had enough good sense to not let his confusion show in front of their guest. Bucky wanted to shake his head at his oldest friend. He had no need to scare young girls with guns. Especially ones that closely resembled an injured rabbit. His gaze returned to the girl when the last of the guards exited the room. “Why did you break into my home?”

She straightened. Just a little, but he caught it. She was trying to bolster herself. The thought made him smile inwardly.

“Consider it my resume.”

Bucky was taken aback by that. He looked at her again, more carefully.

“You had better start from the beginning, doll.”


	2. Dolor

“ _You had better start from the beginning, doll.”_

Your first impression of Bucky was that he was _gorgeous_.

Well… and dangerous.

But gorgeous.

He was wearing a leather jacket that accentuated his broad shoulders and matching gloves which made you try to remember which arm was supposed to be the metal one. He stood next to a bulky blond that must have been Steve, since he moved closer instead of leaving when Barnes dismissed the rest of the men. You thought the goon squad had been pretty muscular but you felt these two could probably take them all in a fight.

“Where are my manners?” Barnes gave you a rather charming smile, “I’m James Barnes, but you, darlin’, can call me Bucky. This is my friend Steve Rogers.”

Steve nodded to you, “Just Steve.”

Bucky knelt to get on your level, “So, doll. From the beginning.”

He was watching you with intense blue eyes, expectant. You stopped fidgeting. _Start at the beginning_. You took a deep breath. “My name is (Y/N) (L/N),” you exhaled, slowly, “As you know, a few weeks ago I began sending you information that I stole from Hydra under the name Firebrand,” you shifted uncomfortably. Your body was heating up and you wondered if it was from his proximity—he was definitely in your personal space—or if you were developing a fever. Just what you needed, “I made the mistake of allowing a partner to help me,” your voice faltered at that. A partner, a friend, your _family_. All three of them were dead because you let Jeremy talk you into giving him the codes. At that thought your breathing was becoming irregular, the images from back in the apartment flashing in your mind’s eye. You brought a hand to your forehead to try to rub the images away. It was damp with sweat.

Steve was beginning to look alarmed. He looked to Bucky, unsure if they should interrupt your dialogue. But Bucky didn’t look at his friend or make any move to stop your story. Steve stepped away, looking at the situation before him uneasily.

You took a deep, shaky breath, trying to get your breathing back under control. You couldn’t give him the full story, not right now. It was too fresh. “The short of it is that I’m an asset, hiring me would be in your best interest. I can tighten your security and continue to gather information digitally from Hydra.”

“And what do you want in exchange?”

Your body was on fire, you were pretty sure of it. But you were trying to hold on to the string of the conversation, it hadn’t gone the way you wanted it to. You had expected to be able to explain everything up front. But here it was, the moment of truth, “Protection from Hydra.” You slumped back against the couch, hitting your shoulder in the process. A searing pain crossed your brain, so absolute you didn’t even hear the gasp that tumbled out of your mouth on impact while your right hand gripped the arm rest with as much as force as you could muster.

“For fuck sake’s Buck! She’s been shot!”

There was a flurry of movement then. You felt hands on you. You looked up again to see a curtain of dark hair as Bucky leaned over to look at your wound. You dazedly wondered how soft it would feel if you ran your fingers through it,“It’s not too bad. Probably hurts like hell though.” He straightened, turning to Steve, “Call Banner back from his assignment. I want him here as soon as possible. Then get me Natalia.” Bucky was kneeling in front of you again as your eyesight managed to come back into focus, “How long ago were you shot?” he asked softly and you wondered how he could be so calm. Then you realized you probably weren’t the only person to bleed out on his furniture.

“You didn’t give me your answer,” your voice sounded distant and somewhat hazy, you wondered if you were slurring.

“Didn’t I?” he said with a small smile, “Now answer mine.” He pressed his hand against the wound, trying to staunch the lazy blood flow.

“I’m not sure,” you grunted against the pressure, “I… I started here around six. I think.”

The door opened and a beautiful redhead walked in. She spoke in rapid Russian to Bucky, the expression on her face far from happy. He shook his head and switched to English for your benefit, “We are going to have to take her upstairs and treat her while Banner is making his way back. You are not to leave her alone for even a minute.”

She looked down at you with an assessing gaze and turned back to Bucky, “Please tell me _you_ didn’t shoot her.”

Bucky looked incredulous which earned a pained laugh out of you, “No, he didn’t,” you manage to tell her.

“Hydra,” He provided, though you couldn’t remember telling him that. You supposed it must have been pretty obvious, it was the only enemy you mentioned. The only enemy you had.

“Well get her up, Barnes. She isn’t going to make it upstairs in that condition.” She turned and left ahead of them.

“Sorry doll.” Bucky gave you a small smile and before you could ask why he already lifted you into his arms without so much as a grunt to indicate he felt your weight. He was careful not to jostle your shoulder too much, but you were still wincing. You felt like you should protest and try to make it up the stairs yourself but you couldn’t summon the energy to argue let alone walk. You didn’t think he would listen anyway. His expression was focused and you could feel the power in his arms. You could feel that power holding you to his body and you thought that it might not be so far-fetched to think he could really protect you. Not from being the leader of the Bratva, but through his own strength. For the first time that night you thought you had made the right decision.

The room Bucky carried you to was seriously big. You wondered if it was bigger than your apartment. On one side of the room was a bed that looked to be at least a king size. There was a door on each side of the bed, one of which you assumed went to a bathroom. On the other side of the room was a sitting area with two couches, a coffee table and a TV. There were several windows that faced out onto the back lawn.

He settled you on one of the couches and you let out a sigh of disappointment as his arms left you. His lips shook for a moment before he grinned and was about to say something before the redhead strode into the room carrying a first aid kit and what looked like a change clothes in her arms. She dropped her load on the table and brought a knife over to where you were sitting. Quiet and efficient, she cut off the sleeve of your shirt to get a better look at the wound.

“It’s not too bad. Looks like the bullet made a clean exit, thankfully. It’ll have to be stitched though.” She went to the first aid kit and came back, pushing a shot into your arm above the wound without so much as a warning. You jumped in response to the prick, “Keep her still and keep her focused on you, Barnes.”

“Hurry up, Natalia.”

“If I do it now she’ll feel every stitch. If she was you I’d tell you to suck it up. But she’s not, so you’re going to have to amuse her a little longer. Distract her.” She spoke with finality, and to your surprise, Bucky didn’t argue.

“How did you break in exactly?”

“I...” you swallowed, watching Natalia prep the needle that she would use for your stitches.

The fear must have shown on your face because he gripped your chin firmly, forcing you to look directly at him and keep your gaze on him. You felt a little lost in those icy blues, “How?” his voice was commanding but you thought his expression was rather soft. “Walk me through it.”

“Your security has a lot of holes in it,” you blurt with a wince.

“Obviously.” He was not amused.

You took in a deep breath and explained for him step by step how you managed to sneak into the manor. His pressure on your chin increased a little when Natalia began sewing up the wound, but you couldn’t feel anything other than the pressure of her grip on your arm. He seemed impressed with your explanation, or maybe you just thought so from the mix of pain and drugs. Natalia might have numbed your shoulder, but the lack of searing pain in that area brought your attention to the stinging on your legs.

“All done,” Natalia announced, wrapping up her work in gauze, “Barnes, you should leave for this next part.”

There was a pause as he considered, his eyes never leaving yours. Finally Bucky nodded and stood, releasing his grip on you. You resisted the urge to ask him to stay, watching each step he took as he left. He stopped at the threshold before turning to look at you again.

“Why Firebrand?”

You chuckled bitterly, “because I think I’m hilarious. Hercules used a firebrand to prevent the Hydra from growing more heads, leading to it’s defeat.”

He nodded to that and left without saying anything more.

Natalia helped you to the bathroom, which turned out to be the door to the left of the bed. She sat you on the toilet seat and helped you out of your clothes, turning on the shower head. You might have tried harder to preserve your dignity if you had the energy, but in your current state you elected to not care. She seemed very capable, you realized. Very comfortable with the idea of helping someone that was injured.

She helped you sit in the tub, using the shower head to wash away the blood and dirt, exposing some bruises that you don’t even know how you got and a few other cuts that you didn’t know about. She passed you a wash cloth to scrub with, “Gently,” she said, “and don’t touch your legs, they’re covered in cuts.”

You nodded as you absently rubbed the cloth against your skin, “Glass. It was everywhere,” you murmured, your head lolling against the back of the tub.

“If you want a pain pill you’re going to have to stay awake,” she says with a smile, turning off the shower and gently drying off your legs. Your body went rigid, the light pressure increasing the stinging. She grabs a pair of tweezers and begins to work on your legs, pulling out what shards she can find.

You hiss in response, “Do you do this sort of thing often? You seem good at it.”

She laughs at that, “Often enough. You should see Steve sometimes. He just doesn’t know when to quit.” She brought the trash can closer, dropping the pieces of glass in there, “But most of the time Banner does it. He’s our personal doctor. Barnes already sent for him, but you’ll live.”

You nodded in understanding, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she began to wrap your legs. You quirked a smile thinking about how much of your body was going to be covered in gauze, “I won’t lie,” she said after a moment of silence, “someone with your skills would be useful to have around, but are you sure you want this kind of life? It’s hard, especially on women. And it’s forever.”

You nodded, “I don’t have a choice.” You don’t want to get into it, you can feel that she’s trying to probe you for answers but you hope she accepts your answer without question.

She sighs, hesitating. She was good enough to know that you hadn’t told Bucky the whole story. Her gaze was unnerving as her eyes looked through yours, “Barnes is a good man, a good _pakhan_. If you’re going to join up, he’s the best to join under.” She finished wrapping you legs and helped you out of the tub.

“How did you end up with Bucky?” You realize as soon as the words fell out of your mouth that it might be too personal of a question, but you’re desperate to turn the conversation away from yourself. You watch her for signs of anger but fortunately for you she seemed amused, her grip on you firm as you exited the bathroom.

She helped you sit down on the bed and went over the coffee table. While she was rummaging through her supplies you noticed a cup of water and a bottle of pills on the nightstand that you hadn’t noticed before. She came back with a large black t-shirt. It was too big to be one of hers, but you accepted it without question, putting it over your head. She helped with your injured shoulder, before passing you the cup of water and a pill from the bottle.

“I was born into the life. Bratva is made up of a lot of different cells, loosely connected. My father was the leader of one, much like Barnes is the leader of this one. A very traditional man, my father. So he married me off as soon as he could. I didn’t like my husband,” she sat down on the bed as you crawled into it. Her gaze was far away for a moment, lost in her thoughts before she continued, “so I took care of him. I was sent back home to my darling papa, who was beyond furious that I refused to be a good, submissive little wife. So he did the only thing that he really knew how to do. He tried to marry me off again, this time to Barnes.” Your attention perked up at that and she gave you a wide smile, “Needless to say, I didn’t want him either. But Barnes was different. He didn’t want to marry me. In fact, he offered me a position under him because he could recognize the skills that my father could not. I’ve worked for him ever since. My father was angry at first, but someone eventually took care of him as well.”

“Hmm,” you murmured, the medication was kicking in way faster than you had anticipated, “what are your skills?”

She smiled even wider at that, “Everything that someone in the Bratva would need.”

You nodded, your eyes fluttering shut, “Natalia?”

“Yes?”

“What does the door on the right go to?”

“Barnes’ bedroom.”

You didn’t find anything odd in that statement in your sleepy state, so you you made an affirmative noise as you drifted off.

 

-

 

Natalia sat on the couch after the girl passed out, texting Barnes to let him know. A little while after that, Steve opened the door connecting the bedrooms and motioned Natalia to join them at the door. She obeyed, leaning against the door so she could see (Y/N)’s form under the blankets.

“How is she?” Bucky asked, sitting in a chair facing the door. He looked a little ruffled, his normal leather jacket and jeans swapped for sleeping attire. His metal arm glinted in the dim light.

“Traumatized. Banner needs to see her as soon as he arrives, she’s getting a fever. Other than the gunshot she has an array of cuts on her knees and legs, from glass she said. Bruises, probably from a fall. Getting around will be uncomfortable for a few days. But she didn’t cry once so she’s already tougher than most of the boys you call men around here.”

Bucky ignored her quip, “Her background came up clean. No hint as to why she’d want to sabotage Hydra, no hint she’s been involved with them at all.”

Natalia eyed her boss with some misgiving, “So she’s a do-gooder, what about it? She’s not a Hydra spy if you’re worried about that.”

“If she was concerned about morality she wouldn’t be helping us. What worries me is why a young girl with no criminal record suddenly starts getting involved with organized crime out of the blue. For no reason.” Bucky argued back.

Steve and Natalia exchanged looks but neither offered an explanation.

“I’m actually inclined to agree with you, but how can you be so sure that she’s not part of Hydra?” This question came from Steve.

“The physical and emotional trauma is pretty complete,” Natalia’s gaze doesn’t leave the bed, “you can think what you want, but I can fake a lot of things and I can’t fake that much emotional damage. She could barely even talk about herself.”

Both Bucky and Steve consider her words in silence.

“Steve, I want you to go to her apartment. Take Clint with you.” Bucky said finally, breaking the silence.

“What am I looking for?” Steve pushed himself off the wall he had settled against.

“Anything. Go tonight. Take care of everything there, I don’t want any trouble to follow her. I mean it.”

Steve nodded and left the room to find Clint.

She watched Steve go before turning her gaze to Bucky. The two of them stood in silence for a moment before she sighed, shifting her weight. “You should talk to her. About whatever happened.”

He looked up at her in surprise, “She’d be more likely to open up to you.”

“I don’t think so,” she moved back into (Y/N)’s room, preparing to shut the door, “she came to you for protection, James. Not Bratva. You. Don’t disappoint her.”

Before Bucky could argue, Natalia shut the door on him.

 

-

 

Steve was squatting down next to the bodies, examining them with extreme distaste, “Pretty showy, don’t you think? The blood, the bodies, the broken electronics. Seems to be staged for maximum effect.”

“Yeah that sounds like Hydra,” Clint agreed, dropping their bags on the floor, “Why do you think they didn’t send the cleaners in?”

"Two bodies here. Maybe they wanted someone to find them? Besides (Y/N) I mean, and pin the murders on her, or at least make it look like she was involved somehow? Even if it didn’t stick, it would be hard for her to cause them trouble while she was busy dealing with the law.”

“I don’t know what Bucky is thinking, taking this on,” Clint sighed, “Hydra’s got this place bugged to the hilt. I’ll start on that, you get off your ass and start cleaning up.”

“When did you become such a workaholic?”


	3. Lacuna

You jerked awake and lay blinking in the darkness, your heart racing. It was still dark out. You were disorientated from your sudden awakening. You peered into the dark, unable to discern what had woken you from what you admitted was more an exhausted coma than sleep. A crash made you jump and scramble to sit up. Rough hands grabbed you and drug you to the floor. You yelped loudly as you landed hard on the wooden floor. You could see movement over by the couches, grunts of a fight, but you couldn’t seem to identify exactly how many people had invaded the room before your view as blocked by a rather hulking figure. He grabbed you by the throat and pinned you to the floor. You grabbed their hand and kicked with your legs, your breath going ragged. Spots danced in your eyes.

 

“Oh Firebrand… You are going to regret everything you’ve done. Did you really think Barnes could protect you? He can’t. Do you even know who he really is? He’s a monster, you know.” He laughs at your shocked expression, clearly enjoying the sight of you struggling for air, “you won’t be free of us until you are dead like those friends of yours… and everyone else you love.”

 

You wanted to scream at him, but through his grip you only managed a whisper, “I won’t let you get away with killing them.” Your tried to contort your body to get your kicks aimed at his head but your legs were beginning to feel heavy, to heavy to move with any finesse. All you could see was his grinning face looming above you.

 

“Big words for such a weak girl.”

 

Then the man was torn off of you and sent sprawling into the closet. You heard the breaking of wood and the whirring of machinery as you gulped in air. Your hands gently covered your throat as you backed off, scooting across the floor. Your back hit the nightstand as another figure pressed against you, holding you firmly by the waist. You struggled against them, your good hand reaching out and grabbing a handful of soft hair. You let out a soft gasp, “B-Bucky?”

 

“Shh. Yes, it’s just me, doll. Stay still. Are you hurt?” He’s speaking as softly as he can manage with his anger simmering just under his skin. He can feel the tremors in your body as he covers it with his own, effectively hiding you from the remaining Hydra. It only makes him angrier, with them and with himself.

 

Your response is cut off by the lights flicking on, “All clear here.” Natalia calls over to the two of you, “There has to be more outside though, there’s no way they would come here without some backup.”

 

Peering around his shoulder you can see five men sprawled out around Natalia, not including the one Bucky must have thrown into the closet. She doesn’t look too much worse for wear, other than a slight breathlessness. You look at the man in the closet, the one who had tried strangling you. You could see his blood pooling and the sight made you turn your head so your line of sight was blocked by Bucky’s bulk.

 

“Go,” Bucky orders, “don’t go alone. Take Clint and Steve.” She nods as she sprints out of the room without looking back.

 

You realize Bucky is staring at you, waiting for you to speak. You’re still gripping his hair so you will your fingers to relax and you let go, slowly.

 

He gently moves your other hand away from your neck and examines the bruises forming there. His teeth clench as he does. Good thing he hadn’t killed the guy yet, the thought grimly, “What was he saying to you?”

 

You looked down, avoiding eye contact. You worried your lip between your teeth. You hated to admit that the man’s warning about Bucky was bothering you. You shuddered and Bucky’s grip on you tightened, but rather than feeling frightened you felt somewhat consoled. “He...” you swallowed, your throat burning as you did, “he said that you couldn’t protect me and I’d never escape them. Not until I die.” You close your eyes, taking in a shaky breath. You couldn’t mention the last part either, you didn’t know how to be that raw and vulnerable, not yet.

 

You felt rough, warm fingers on you cheek and you placed your hand over them, breathing deeply. The solid feeling of his hand steadied you, enough to open your eyes again.

 

Rage was a more accurate term to describe how angry Bucky found himself. You had _trusted_ him and not even a few hours later there was a break in, an attempt on your life and another emotional wound to add to your collection. He wondered if you believed Hydra, believed that he was incapable of protecting you from them. He pushes those thoughts aside, “Are you in pain?”

 

You nod.

 

“Hang on.” he got up and brought you water and another pain pill. You downed it gratefully and set it back on the nightstand. Before you could ask anything else he gathered you carefully in his arms.

 

“B-Bucky?” You stammered. You were going to ask what he was doing, but frankly your brain was going haywire.

 

He was carrying you through the door that connected the two rooms and settles you down on the bed—which you’re very careful to not refer to as his bed, not even in your head. He sends a quick text message and not even a few moments later a knock sounds on the door. You jump, the fear kicking back in. Bucky sees your anxiety, “Don’t worry, I asked him to come up.”

 

He walks over to the door and blocks your view of the figure outside the door. All you can hear is Russian, “Возьмите парня рядом с подвалом и ждите инструкций.” (Take the guys next door to the basement and wait for instructions.)

 

You make a mental note to begin learning Russian  immediately  if you were going to  stay here. Bucky shut the door and came back to the bed. 

 

“Before you go back to sleep I need to check your bandages okay?” He almost looks like he’s addressing a wounded animal that he’s scared will bolt at any moment. You stare, trying to decipher him and you realize with a jolt he feels _guilty_. It makes your heart hurt.

 

“Of course, thank you,” you nod and he checks your shoulder first, his fingers gently pulling back your sleeve to look at the bandage, “thank you for saving me, too.”

 

He nods. No blood was seeping through the gauze so he left it alone, sitting on the bed near your legs. He gently put his hands on your gauze wrapped legs, examining them.

 

You would have sworn that you couldn’ t feel any more flustered than you already did,  but the sight of him examining your legs, practically  _in between_ your legs—and you, in nothing but a large t-shirt that went mid-thigh—sent your heart rate skyrocketing.

 

He gave you a small, amused smile, his gaze flickering up to your face, “By the way, where did you get my shirt?”

 

_Oh. My. God._

 

You screamed internally, “Natalia got it, I’m sorry,” the words came out in a rush and he looked even more amused than before.

 

“Don’t worry about it, doll. It looks better on you.”

 

That amused smile of his only got wider as he watched the color on your face deepen. His shoulders were tense however and you thought back to the guy at the door and the conversation you couldn’t understand in Russian. You had been uncovering enough of Hydra’s secrets in the past week to have an idea what was happening. A mafia was a mafia, even if they were a better one, “Bucky?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Is everyone okay?”

 

He looked up from your legs, where he had been carefully clipping the bandage on your left leg back into place, his large hands surprisingly gentle, “What do you mean?” his expression was unreadable.

 

“Was anybody hurt because Hydra came looking for me?”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said, standing up and moving away from the bed, “they aren’t a match for Natalia and the others. Go back to sleep.” The last sentence was a command, “I’ll stay with you until Natalia returns from scouting the grounds.”

 

-

 

When you woke Bucky was gone and in his place was not Natalia as you had expected, but Steve. The blond was sitting on a chair near the couches that was angled towards the bed. He was in the middle of reading a book, his focus away from you. You must have made a noise as you looked around because he turned his attention to you.

 

“Good morning, (L/N)!”

 

“Just (Y/N), please,” you said as you watched him a little warily. You couldn’t explain your sudden reluctance, he was obviously trusted by Bucky, but you found yourself wanting to see a familiar face, even if it wasn’t that familiar, “where’s Natalia?”

 

“With Bucky.”

 

You suppress a groan, “and where is he?”

 

Steve sighed, looking rather uncomfortable and shifting his weight. He looked as though he was having an internal argument before he finally spoke, “They’re both downstairs. In the basement.” He looked embarrassed, as if he didn’t want to talk about what was happening.

 

This gave you pause. Basement? “Was Natalia hurt?”

 

“Oh no, no. She’s fine. She brought in two more Hydra members, actually. That’s what they’re dealing with at the moment.”

 

“So… they’re questioning them?”

 

“Yes. Now, I have orders to make sure that you eat!” He said the last part in a hurry, obviously hoping to distract you. He had a contagious smile on his face though, that made you give him a tentative smile back, “what would you like for breakfast? I’ll let the kitchen know and you can eat it up here.”

 

You decided on pancakes and coffee. You weren’t hungry but you could definitely use the caffeine and who didn’t like pancakes? He called it in using his cellphone, causing you to blink at him a little. Strange house, using the phone to order from the kitchen, but you supposed a mob boss didn’t cook his own meals. That’s when you remembered under the blankets you were wearing nothing but Bucky’s large t-shirt, “Is there… any way I could get some clothes?”

 

“Oh right!” Steve picked up a neat, folded pile on the table and set them on the bed next to you, “Natalia brought these for you earlier. She also said not to shower until later, when she’s hear to re-bandage everything,” he blushed a little at that and you wondered what exactly he thought he might have to look at if he did it instead. He pointed at a door opposite of the one that led to your room, “That’s the bathroom.”

 

He turned his back to you, which you were grateful for as you scrambled out of the bed and made your way to the bathroom. Your entire body was stiff, so you took your time changing your clothing. You glanced in the mirror, all the grime from yesterday was gone, thanks to Natalia’s help in the shower, but the dark circles under your eyes remained. Not even the drugged sleep you managed to get while here had managed to ease them. You splashed your face with cold water and dried off on a towel.

 

When you returned to the bedroom two matching trays with pancakes, syrup, coffee, orange juice, toast and bacon were waiting on the coffee table. Steve was already seated in front of one, so you took the couch in front of the other, raising an eyebrow at him.

 

Steve shrugged, “Apparently pancakes and coffee isn’t a very nutritious breakfast.”

 

You snort, after all, nutrition was really the last thing on your list of worries. You began to eat slowly nonetheless and to your surprise it tasted good. After a few minutes you realized exactly how hungry you were. You had been angry with Jeremy when he had called that afternoon to tell you about the money. So angry that you skipped lunch, dinner and then didn’t come home until much later than usual. If you had come home at regular time, you would have…

 

You dropped the fork and it hit the tray with a loud clatter, causing Steve to jump, “Sorry,” you mumble, trying to push away all the memories of yesterday. “Do you have the tablet I used to get in here?”

 

He looked a little guilty, “Sorry, we couldn’t take any chances so we had to destroy it.”

 

You ignored the sinking feeling in your stomach of owning exactly nothing. It was smart, it was something that you would have recommended to them, but it still hurt a little “is there a computer or tablet around here I could use?”

 

He was frowning, “You don’t need to work, you’re recovering still.”

 

“Don’t worry,” you smile disarmingly, “Despite what it might look like, I can’t actually do much with a tablet. I do most things from a computer. I just feel more comfortable in cyberspace. I just want to surf a little.” The lie flowed easily out of your mouth, easier than you should have felt comfortable with.

 

He shrugged, “You can use mine. I don’t really use it except to look at the newspaper every now and then.”

 

You laughed as he passed you the tablet, “Okay, grandpa.” He made a face but you ignored him, powering it on. You waited until it seemed like he was absorbed in his book again before getting back into the manor’s security feeds. You had to look through them for awhile before you found the ones you were looking for—not just one, but two cameras in the basement. Bringing them up you could see two men tied up. They looked rough, but whether that was from the questioning you had no doubts about or from Natalia’s original beating you hadn’t a clue. You could also see Natalia and Bucky, off to one side and conversing.

 

“Just going to surf, huh?”

 

-

 

Bucky was slightly out of breath, from his exertions questioning the Hydra members certainly, but more so from struggling to keep his temper reigned in. Natalia had watched his efforts with the air of someone being indulgent, never interrupting or taking control. But it had been several hours now and Bucky had nothing particularly useful from any of them.

 

It didn’t really help that they were only half conscious at this point.

 

“Why don’t you just let me take care of this? You normally do,” Natalia was annoyed. It was usually her job to deal with the more unpleasant side of the business. Unlike Steve she had a very fluid morality, “Does it have to do with the girl?”

 

Bucky shot her a warning look, “It has nothing to do with (Y/N).” Besides the exactly two hours of sleep he had gotten the night before, he was having a rough time. It was true that he normally had Nat deal with interrogations. She was more level-headed than he was and had the capacity to compartmentalize the damage she was doing to other human beings in a way he did not. But he had been the one to agree to protect (Y/N). Their attack on his home was a personal affront that he was _already_ angry about and that one Hydra agent had a mouth on him that he desperately wanted to beat out of him.

 

“That’s why you’re getting cut out by Hydra,” one of the thugs spoke up, blood dribbling down his chin from his split lip, “you’re letting women boss you around.”

 

There was a loud crack as Bucky’s arm hit the concrete, a crack skittering across the wall to the seam, “ _Shut up,”_ he hissed at the thug, “You don’t have any fucking idea what you’re talking about.”

 

She watched him calmly with the air of someone who was used to seeing tantrums from grown men, “don’t get so worked up.”

 

He was actively ignoring her and glaring at the Hydra members as his phone rang in his pocket. He answered it, anger still fresh in his veins, “Fuck, what now?” He snapped.

 

“Buck, she’s been watching you on the cameras.”

 

He didn’t even have to ask who. “Блядь.” He hung up the phone. Natalia didn’t say anything as he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. The half unconscious Hydra members were quiet as well, eying the crack in the wall with at the very least, uneasiness, “Stay here. Finish up. I’ll talk to you later.”

 

Natalia smiled as he stalked off.

 

-

 

You watched this explosion of his anger on the cameras, your eyes wide. Steve sighed as he hung up the phone. His oldest friend was in a mood, but he had said he’d protect the girl and for Steve that meant emotionally too.  He watched the screen behind you as Natalia approached one of the Hydra thugs. There was something in her hand that you couldn’t quite see, but whatever it was caused the man’s mouth to open in a scream.

 

It didn’t take long for the two of you to hear Bucky’s heavy footsteps outside the door. He threw open the door without preamble. If you had been looking, you would have seen his fists clench once, twice, before slowly unfurling his fingers and taking a slow breath.  But your eyes remained glued to the screen before you.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked. His voice was a little rougher, more on edge than you had seen him so far. Steve nodded to the two of you and left, closing the door quietly behind him. You hardly registered him leaving.

 

“I don’t expect you to understand,” you set down the tablet on the table, “if I cannot stomach watching what you are doing to protect me then I don’t deserve your protection.”

 

Bucky leaned over and turned the tablet off before sitting down heavily next to you. You looked at him and he noted your glassy expression, “if you think punishing yourself is the answer, you’re wrong.”

 

“I’m not punishing myself.”

 

“Then what do you call it?”

 

You were quiet then, mostly because you knew that he was right. Bastard.

 

He grabs your chin, roughly this time. The motion jerks your body and you feel the pull of the stitches but you refuse to acknowledge it, refusing to back down, “You need to tell me everything. Right now. I sent Steve to your apartment, he saw the bodies. Those weren’t your typical mob hit, there was some extras thrown in there just for you, wasn’t there?” His voice is gruff but as you stare into his eyes you can’t help but think that you’ve never been safer than right now, with him.

 

Your eyes dart away from his face, looking out past him to the wall, willing yourself to not think about the bodies, the blood. “There were two rules: don’t get caught and don’t touch any money. It’s harder to follow rule one if you break rule two,” you explain, your breath rattling in your chest, “I had already been feeding you information I could get from Hydra without getting noticed. I explained my… little project to my best friends. Meghan, Jeremy and Chase were eager to help and yesterday afternoon I got the phone call from Jeremy… He… he was excited because he had stolen money from Hydra. I was furious, so furious I didn’t ask what he did with it and I didn’t come home at my usual time. I-if I had I probably would be dead too.”

 

He was growing frustrated, you were avoiding the heart of the matter. He didn’t care how it all happened, he wanted to know _why_. “And? Why were you messing with Hydra in the first place? You must have a past with them.”

 

You swallowed, your throat constricting. Those eyes were boring into yours and you got the feeling that this was another one of those moments of truth. “You’re right in thinking that. Because they did--”

 

The door slammed open for the second time in a half hour, revealing a very worried, almost frantic Steve, “Buck, Banner is here but you aren’t going to like it.”

 

Bucky growled at the interruption, releasing his grip on your chin. Your breathing was out of control, you had come so close to telling him everything and he could almost feel the way you were withdrawing from him as the seconds trickled by, “I’ll be down in a moment.” He turned to you and the look he gave you caused a small shiver to run down your spine, though it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. _I’m not finished with you_ , it said.

 

Natalia appeared at the door as well, looking well put together for someone that had just been torturing men. She slipped into the room, prepared to continue her vigil from the night before. Steve’s eyes follow her across the room even as he speaks directly to Bucky, who resists the urge to roll his eyes.

 

“We need you now, Buck.”

 

You had already turned your attention away from him, your expression far away. He wondered if you were remembering the scene in the apartment. He hadn’t seen it himself, but Steve and Clint had sent pictures to give him a rough idea of what had happened. Bucky was hard, jaded even, but seeing that apartment and seeing what it had done to you… it made him angry. Angrier than he had been for a very long time. He couldn’t explain why. Other than he was no closer to the whole truth at this point and you looked ready to collapse in on yourself.

 

“Wait here.” He scoops up the tablet and shoves it into Steve’s chest, “don’t do anything clever until I get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I was really unhappy with this chapter but I finally decided to just give in and post it after fiddling with it for a week. I hope you guys don't think it's too terrible!


	4. Inculpated

Bucky and Steve arrive in the medical room where everything is chaos. Banner is working as fast as possible on a very bloody Sam Wilson. Bucky looks sideways at his friend in time to see the guilt that twists Steve’s face, “What happened, Maximoff?” Bucky looks to Pietro, the younger boy is bloody but looks unharmed. His petite sister Wanda flanks him, the blood less obvious on her red outfit but she looks exhausted as Pietro.

“Mission went bad,” Pietro comments unhelpfully.

“You know Sam,” Wanda says with a tired smile, “on our way back with Banner we got word of a human shipment of Hydra’s headed out. He insisted it should take precedence over Banner’s return and I did not disagree.” despite her exhaustion, she raised her chin as if daring him to challenge her.

The look on Bucky’s face was scary enough for the weaker willed sibling to flinch back from him and shuffle his feet, but Wanda merely straightened her back more and stared him down, standing by her statement, “You went on an unauthorized raid against Hydra,” he says, anger lacing his voice. It’s a struggle to keep his tone steady, “you went against my explicit instructions. Despite what you think, we are not in the superhero business. Steve,” he turns to the blond, who is standing very straight, “Sam’s cell is yours. I expect you to deal with them accordingly.”

Steve nods, his jaw clenching as he puts his hand on Wanda’s shoulder. She is angry as Steve leads her and Pietro out, but Bucky can’t focus on that. Instead, he turns all of his attention to Banner and Sam, “How is he?”

Bucky is still livid, all he can think about is how nothing is simple anymore. It used to be fairly straightforward: mess up everything of Hydra’s that you can reach. Destroy them piece by piece. Your arrival makes that more difficult, he has to be more careful. A false move and he could be forced to choose between Bratva and protecting you. It’s not a position he would relish.

“He’ll live. His healing rate is nothing compared to yours, though so he’ll be out of commission for some time,” Banner sits back, looking up at Bucky with a furrowed brow, “I heard why you called me back. Who is she?”

“One of us,” Bucky says with a grunt, “Hydra shot her in the shoulder. Natalia stitched her up.”

Banner nods, “Romanov is good,” he doesn’t point out that his presence is unnecessary then as he takes off his gloves, still covered with Sam’s blood, “want to talk about why you’re so angry with Sam and Wanda?”

“They put us in danger.” It’s not quite a lie, but it’s close enough to the truth that Bucky has no qualms with it.

Banner looks thoughtful, he’s far from a stupid man and can read between the lines, “well, no use waiting around then. Send her down, I’m quite anxious to meet her.”

-

You can’t help but smile when you meet Banner. He looks so at home in his lab, computers covering one wall and a gurney in the center, flanked by a couple of tables that held various medical instruments. There’s a curtain on the far end of the room and you can hear the soft _beep_ of a heart monitor. Natalia had already explained to you the arrival of one of the members in dire condition, so you imagined that he was behind there. You took some comfort in the fact that if he was resting alone then his situation must not have been quite as dire as you had been led to believe.

He’s gentle as he sits you down on a chair, scooting his closer to begin his examination. He doesn’t seem at all perturbed by his audience: Natalia practically prowling the room and Bucky radiating annoyance and anger near the door. He’s cutting through Natalia’s carefully wrapped gauze when the computers in his lab flip on and a familiar voice cuts through the quiet.

“Heeeeeello Firebrand!”

Everyone turns to the computers and your heart drops to your knees as you get up, slowly approaching the monitors. Each one displays a very familiar face—Chase.

“Chase?” Your voice is quiet, broken. You can feel Bucky’s eyes on you, but your eyes are glued to the center monitor.

“In the flesh! So to speak,” he laughs as if he made a great joke.

“But you were dead, in the apartment. With Jeremy and Meghan.” You say, though your mind is working fast. You could remember Jeremy very clearly but you were fuzzy on the rest. There had just been so much carnage.

“See that’s where you’re wrong,” he looks amused, “isn’t it, Barnes? Don’t think we didn’t notice your men sniffing around. Jeremy and Meghan were the only ones dead in the apartment. As it happens, I was the one that killed them, so I’d know.”

Pain shot through your chest, “Meghan loved you.”

“Yeah, she made it pretty simple to get close to you,” the amusement didn’t fade from his face, he clearly didn’t actually care about his dead girlfriend—one of your best friends, “with all the files you snooped around in, it looks like you never touched your parents’ files. I always thought that was odd of you. Why wouldn’t you want to know everything they did? We recorded their deaths you know. Would you like to see that? I mean you probably don’t care about what happened to dear old Dad, but you were pretty close with your mom, weren’t you?”

You didn’t respond, but it didn’t matter because he kept going.

“More interesting than that though, why didn’t you look at your own file? Ah yes, you have a file too.” All the screens except one flipped to a video, taken from security camera facing downwards. A man in a white lab coat that you recognized as your father. You could hear soft crying from a small figure, strapped to a chair, “how old do you think you are here? Four? Five?”

“You’re lying,” your voice lacks conviction though because you can see now that he’s telling the truth: the little figure is you, crying. You don’t remember that though, you definitely would have remembered something like that. Your eyes are glued to the screen as you watched your father inject your younger self—who burst into screams. The screaming seemed to go on for a long time, before the little figure slumps. Your father was taking notes as fast as he could on a clipboard. The footage speeds up then goes back to normal speed when someone brings in a second syringe. The screams fill the room again, but Chase’s smile never leaves his face.

Your hands were trembling as you looked to one of Banner’s medical tables. You scooped up a closed laptop that flashed on when you opened the lid. Security was a joke around here, but you didn’t have time to think about that. Your younger self was still screaming in agony as you began to trace Chase through Bratva’s system, chasing his signal back to Hydra.

“What are you doing?”

You ignored him, your fingers shaking on the keys. You looked up to see Chase, still looking smug. Your eyes were stinging from the tears, but you finished the code. There was only a second delay before chaos erupted around Chase, he was shouting something to someone off the camera as sparks rained down on him. There was a crash before the video feed cut out and the monitors went back to the desktop screen. Your fingers were frozen on the keyboard of the laptop. Everyone in the room was quiet, the only sound was the distant _beep_ of the heart rate monitor.

You felt a light brush of fingers against your cheekbone. When you looked up your eyes met Bucky’s. His fingers make comforting circles around your jaw, before he pulls down the bandage on your arm. The sight makes his hand grip your arm tightly.

The skin there is smooth, no sign of a scar.

Your tearful eyes lock with his again, this time he can see the fear reflected in your eyes.


End file.
